An Australian Story

G'day! How you goin'? I reckon you stopped by to hear about my trip to the land down under. Well let's get to it, but I must warn you that this post may seem out of the ordinary. You see, in Australia they have a different way of speaking. Such a way, in fact, that made me stop many times and say, "what the heck are you talking about?!" No worries though mate, you'll catch on.

Australia is beautiful and Kelley, Hillary, Shannon and I were happy as Larry when we finally arrived after 36 hours of travelling. Unfortunately, the airline left Hilary's kit in New Zealand and she had to wear the same jumper and daks for 2 days. When it finally arrived we were ecstatic and ready to start our adventures!

Our trip started in Brisbane where Kelley has some rellies who welcomed us with open arms. Her granddad fed us brekky every morning with real crumpets and was so sweet to let us use his car. Don't worry we filled it with petrol before returning it. Since I can drive a stick shift, I was lucky enough to be the one who got to drive on the opposite side of the road. It took all of my concentration to give way to oncoming traffic and look both ways before crossing anything since Australia is FULL of roundabouts(my running nemesis).

We saw so many amazing animals up close. We fed kangaroos and elephants and held koala bears and baby crocadiles. We went way out into the woop woop and through the bush to go 4-wheeling on a secluded beach. We saw an Australian footy game and barracked for the Brisbane Broncos. We even went to Mackers for tea once and ordered chips with our hamburgers. And you better believe when we went to the milk bar I bought a ton of lollies and bikkies to bring back to the US as prezzies.

I treated myself to a few dinki-di's and brought home a didgeridoo and boomerang so I wouldn't forget the fun tip. I found the Aussies to be fair dinkum. Definitley a place I would holiday in again!

Alright... I feel like I just filled out a mad libs poem with random words that make no sense. I promise that's really how they speak. They have the funniest words for everyday things. I probably said "what?" more times on this trip then I did in Greece! If you made it this far, good on ya... you will now be treated with some pictures.

Wishing Vacations Lasted Forever

But then, I guess it wouldn't be called a vacation. I have a new love in my life. That love is a country people call Greece. I never thought I could go on a vacation and dread the day that I had to go home. Normally I love a vacation, but welcome the return home to normal life and my soft bed. Not this vacation. Even with rock-hard mattresses, Greece is simply amazing! Simple because the people (on the islands) choose such a simple satisfying life where iphones and nice cars aren't the object of ones affection. And amazing because the clean white architecture set against the bright blue Mediterranean Sea and the sky with not a cloud in sight really does take your breath away.

I have thought for about a week what the best way to present this trip would be via blog. I have about 900 pictures (that is not an exaggeration in the slightest) and I know full well I can't post 900 pictures with a little story of how I loved that exact moment... as much as I would like to. Instead I will share my favorite pictures and thoughts as it pertains to this wonderful adventure.

Lindsey, Sarah, Erin, Lacey and I left to Greece not really knowing what to expect and not really having much of a plan. We knew what day to be on what island, but other than that the trip was free game! The 4 of them all left from Utah, had a layover in Paris, had their bags lost but finally arrived on the island of Mykonos in one piece (their bags arrived a few long hours later). I, leaving from Oregon, decided to travel on a different route that would shorten my travel time, but would leave me alone for the 24 hours it took to get there. I had a layover in Amsterdam. Getting off the plane in Amsterdam I was a little nervous that I would somehow get myself stuck in this foreign country where I wouldn't know how to communicate and be sold into some sort of questionable trade where people eat Americans for dinner (too many scary movies i.e. 'Taken'). That was not the case, the people were lovely. Most everyone spoke English and even added an accent to their English that made me just want to sit and listen to their words. I will note that they stood WAY to close to me, apparently personal space is a non-issue for some Europeans, but I was successful in making it to my connecting flight to Greece.

When I arrived in Greece I had one more plane to catch to take me to Mykonos and meet up with the girls. When I stepped off the plane in Mykonos I don't think I have ever been so excited to hear my name. Lacey was there waiting for me and I probably gave her the biggest hug I have ever given anyone. Tired (oh SO tired) and confused.. finally, I had made it!

We visited 2 islands while in Greece, Mykonos and Santorini. We also spent a day in Athens at the end of our trip. As to not spend hours and hours spilling every detail of every second (I bought a journal on the trip to do that) here are some pictures and key observations about our travels.

Mykonos - the locals are incredibly friendly. They would spend time with us just about everywhere we went trying to help us perfect our Greek greetings. They have the smallest roads I have ever seen. No joke, I think their 2 lane roads are 10 feet wide and their passenger cars are about a half of a step up from a smart car. They don't may much attention to road laws, to be honest I don't even know if they have any! We saw one cop the entire time on the island. Party town... it didn't help that it was spring break for the surrounding universities, but holy moly! They begin their festivities at about midnight. They get breakfast about 6am and head to bed about 8am. One morning as we were heading out for a run at about 7am our neighbors were coming in for the night. Gotta love it! We transferred to the next island by a hydrofoil. It was like an airplane on water! Super comfortable, they even had a little store on the boat to by treats.

When we arrived in Santorini we were (for lack of a better word) attacked by people trying to sell us hotel rooms, cab rides, rental cars and more. The first one or two who approached us were told very politely, "no thank you". About about 5 or 6 we just started pretending like they weren't there! We rented a car in Santorini as well and driving was a lot more comfortable. Still ultra small roads, but I do believe traffic laws are followed some-what because we couldn't leave the island before paying a parking ticket that we received in our short time there. The story of Santorini is that it used to be a perfectly round island. Some thousand of years ago there was a volcano on the island that irrupted and broke a significant amount of the island off. The piece that broke off, along with the volcano, sunk into the sea and has since resurfaced about 20 miles away from Santorini. Now, because of the volcanic irruption the west side of the island is steep cliff. However, west side is actually where they have built most of their towns and houses. This is where you would see movies like Momma Mia and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants filmed. The small towns look just like that. Santorini is exactly how I pictured Greece to be - we even rode donkeys! Because of all the lava rock on the island the beach that we stayed at, Kamari Beach, is a black beach with lava rocks as sand. It was really cool!

We did our final transfer from Santorini to Athens. Athens is like New York City before Giuliani. The buildings are big and but the streets are dirty. Dogs roam the city with no owners and no where to be. The people are friendly in a more fast paced sort of way. We visited the Acropolis and the temples surrounding. We saw markets that were built thousands and thousands of years ago and we stood atop Mars Hill where the apostle Paul preached of God. To be right where history took place was amazing and the craftsmanship of each structure that had been built or re-built is truly indescribable. And to top it all off... the trip couldn't have been complete without an ice cream cone every night! I would have expected to see gelato in Greece, but we never found any. However, Greecian ice cream = amazing (even though it's probably the same as everywhere else).
I feel like I just puked out Greece pictures with no rhyme or reason. I have so many pictures I love that I have such a hard time choosing only a couple. Maybe as I look through them as time passes I will choose one to tell a story about every once and a while. I loved every second of this vacation. I love my life in Portland, but I've been home for 7 days and my heart still wishes it was on top of a mountain staring at white houses set against the blue water. Greece I miss you!